Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Featherweights

2. Alexander Volkanovski

In a weight class that has seen multiple amazing legends, the presently active Volkanovski has firmly established himself as the second greatest ever. The man is not only a great striker but a great wrestler, and supplements this with limitless cardio, endless toughness, and all-time great fight IQ, implementing brilliant game plans perfectly and always making the right tactical decision. The similarities between him and Bellator champ Patricio Freire, even down to their short stature for the weight class, are seemingly endless. Needless to say, it's an incredible combination that opponents haven't been able to solve. Since a knockout loss early in his career, Volkanovski has won 22 fights in a row, 12 of them in the UFC. The only one that was even close was the second fight against legendary champion Max Holloway, a razor-thin split decision that could have frankly gone either way. Beyond this, Volkanovski has knocked out Jeremy Kennedy, dominated Darren Elkins, knocked out Chad Mendes and sent him into retirement, swept every round against a past-his-prime but still very dangerous Jose Aldo, battered Brian Ortega for 25 minutes, knocked out Chan Sung Jung late and defeated previous champion and legend Max Holloway three straight times, with only the second fight, noted above, being close. At 34 years old, positively ancient for the lower weight classes, it's amazing that Volkanovski is still far and away the best featherweight in the UFC. And yet, despite such a fantastic career, he is still well behind the No. 1 entry for me.

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